Chess game for two,three or four players

ABSTRACT

In addition to a basic playing area of 64 playing squares arranged in eight bilaterally alternately colored rows having eight playing squares per row, the checkerboard of the game has three additional such rows on each side of the basic playing area, the innermost of which carry the pawns, the intermediate of which carry the conventional royalty pieces, and the outermost of which consist of two playing squares apiece that are coextensive with the middlemost squares of the intermediate rows, and carry two additional royalty pieces selected from the group consisting of queens, knights, bishops and castles.

[451 Oct. 22, 1974 1 CHESS GAME FOR TWO, THREE OR FOUR PLAYERS Inventor:Karl R. Whitney, .113, 25605 SE.

242nd St., Maple Valley, Wash. 98038 [22] Filed: May 29, 1973 [21] Appl.No.: 364,737

52 US. Cl. 273/131 KP [51] Int. Cl. A631 3/02 [58] Field of Search273/131 [56] References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 18,2660/1895 Great Britain 273/131 K 214,636 8/1941 Switzerland 273/131 B1,030,519 5/1966 Great Britain 273/131 KP Primary ExaminerDelbert B.Lowe Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Christensen, OConnor, Garrison & Havelka[5 7] ABSTRACT In addition to a basic playing area of 64 playing squaresarranged in eight bilaterally alternately c01- ored rows having eightplaying squares per row, the checkerboard of the game has threeadditional such rows on each side of the basic playing area, theinnermost of which carry the pawns, the intermediate of which carry theconventional royalty pieces, and the outermost of which consist of twoplaying squares apiece that are coextensive with the middlemost squaresof the intermediate rows, and carry two additional royalty piecesselected from the group consisting of queens, knights, bishops andcastles;

3 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure AGQQ PATENTED um 22 m4 CHESS GAME FOR TWO,THREE OR FOUR PLAYERS FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to achess game which is played in substantially conventional fashion, butimproved by virtue of providing for play between or among two, three orfour players. The players may play as individuals, or they may play aspartners, including two playing as partners against a third or fourplaying as two sets of partners against one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be best understoodby reference to the accompanying drawing which illustrates a presentlypreferred embodiment of the same.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, itwill be seen that the game comprises a generally square-shapedcheckerboard 2 having a symmetrical outline and 136 playing squares 4 ofequal size therein, 64 of which are arranged at the center of the boardto form a basic playing area 6 having 8 playing squares per side. Theremaining 72 playing squares are arranged around the periphery of thisbasic playing area, and are formed in three additional rows 8 on eachside of the area, the innermost 8' and intermediate 8" of which rowshave eight playing squares apiece and are coextensive with therespective sides of the area, whereas the outermost rows 8" have onlytwo playing squares apiece and are coextensive with the middlemostsquares of the intermediate rows 8". In the horizontal and verticalcrosswise directions of the board, the playing squares 4 are alternatelyblack and white, or some other pair of contrasting colors, whereas inthe diagonal crosswise directions of the board the squares are of thesame color in alternate rows, which of course, is not unlike atraditional chessboard. Moreover, as in traditional chess, the game isplayed using sets of so-called chessmen 10, each of which comprisespawns P and a group of royalty pieces consisting ofa king K, a queen O,bishops B, knights Kn and-castles C. However, unlike traditional chess,four sets of chessmen are employed, and each comprises four knights Knin addition to the usual king, queen, two bishops, two castles and eightpawns. Initially, the king, queen, bishops, castles, and two of theknights of the respective sets, are arranged in single file on theintermeidate rows 8" of the peripheral playing squares, whereas the tworemaining knights of the respective sets are arranged in single file onthe outermost rows 8" of the peripheral playing squares. The pawns ofthe respective sets are arranged in single file on the innermost rows 8'of the peripheral playing squares. Thus, when play commences, eachplayer has eighteen chessmen, including ten royalty pieces, four ofwhich are of the same description. Also, when play commences, all of thechessmen are positioned outside of the basic playing area 6.

The increased number of royalty pieces enables th game to be played byup to four people, that is, one on each side of the board. Moreover, theincreased num' ber enables four people to play under a set of ruleswhereby no one player can be quickly overcome by the others, even wheretwo or more players team up against him. Alternatively, the players canpair off with one another as partners, and the defeat of one partnerwill not prevent the other from continuing.

Under the rules, the players move their respective chessmen intraditional fashion, including moving the pawns out two squaresinitially if desired, and using the pawns to take the chessmen of otherplayers by moving them diagonally rather than straight ahead. Also,where their pawns reach the intermediate rows of the peripheral squareson the opposing sides of the board, the players can exchange them forroyalty pieces as in traditional chess. Apart from these old rules,however, the players follow certain new rules relating to the checkmateof a king and to the pairing off of players as partners. These new rulesvary, moreover, depending on whether one or the other of two versions ofthe game is played.

According to one version of the game, every player plays as anindividual, with one player moving first and then each of the othersmoving in consecutive order around the board in counterclockwisedirection. If thereafter, during the course of the game, any playersking is put in check, that player must get out of check immediately,regardless of whose turn comes next in the order of play. For example,if the king of the player at the top of the board in the drawing is putin check by the player opposite him, that is, the player at the bottomof the board, then it is the topmost players move for purposes ofgetting out of check; and after his move, it is the move of the playerto the right of the bottommost player, that is, it is the move of theplayer at the right-hand side of the board. In this way, the playerwhose king is in check effectively has two moves per round of moves, sothat the act of checkmating another players king gains no advantage forthe aggressor, unless the checkmated player is unable to escape check,not only with respect to the pieces 10 of the aggressor, but also withrespect to the pieces of the two other players. The exception, ofcourse, is where thecheckmated player would have moved next anyway, inwhich event he gets but a single move, and that is needed to escapecheck.

If by chance a player checkmates the kings of two or more other players,then the latter players must get out of check in the order of theirregular turns, although again each may have two moves per round ofmoves, so that by the time the situation is unscrambled, there can be acomplete. change in the complexion of the game. Of course, where the manwho gets out of check has an additional move before the man who checkedhim, it is possible that the original aggressor may have the tablesturned on him" in that he in turn may become checkmated or may lose avaluable piecethrough the extra move of the checkmated player. This isparticularly important where two or more players team up against asingle player, since they will find it harder to place that oneplayer-in check, and to hold him there, notwithstanding their combinedpower.

When an aggressor places another players king in check, and the latterplayer is unable to escape, then the checkmated players king is removedfrom the board and the aggressor has the options of either adoptimg allof the checkmated players pieces in their existing situation, andplaying them himself, or adopting both the checkmated player and hispieces, and allowing the checkmated player to play the pieces as hechooses, but of course, to the end of aiding the aggressor in hisefforts to win. Under this latter option, moreover, each of the twoplayers continues to take his appropriate turn in each round of moves,and moves only his own original pieces. On the other hand, where theaggressor chooses to move both sets of pieces himself, then he may do soonly on his turn, so that the number of turns is effectively reduced byone, for example, to three instead of four. Alternatively, this latterrule may be limited to the situation where either the aggressor or thecheckmated player has only three or less royalty pieces left at the timeof the checkmate, that is, in addition to his king.

When one player defeats two other players, then he moves turn for turnwith the fourth player, while the two defeated players drop out of thegame and allow the two remaining players to complete it.

Where each of two players defeats another player, then either rule maybe applied. That is, each of the remaining players may move both of hissets in one turn, or each may take alternate turns in which he moves oneset at a time.

As suggested earlier, two players may team up against another. However,in doing so, they risk that either may expose himself to the fourthplayer. Also, the addition of two royalty pieces to each players set ofpieces, gives the players greater ability to protect themselves againsta combined attack, so that what begins as a combined attack by two ormore players may turn into a situation in which one of the combinedplayers loses patience with the others, or cannot resist the opportunityto remove pieces of those with whom he is cooperating, and accordinglyturns against them in the midst of the attack. This often happens whereone of the combined players starts to lose a greater number of' piecesthan his teammates, and becomes fearful of weakening his positionvis-a-vis his own teammates.

The other version of the game is one in which the four players divideinto pairs of partners. The partners need not oppose one another acrossthe board, so that many variations are possible around the board. Therule as to commencing the game varies somewhat from individual play.After one player moves first, the player across from him on theboardmoves second, followed by the player to the second players left,and finally the fourth-player. Thereafter, the rules remain somewhat thesame as in individual play, although the players continue to move inthis same irregular order. The rule requiring that a player get out ofcheck immediately is normally discarded, however, so that each playermerely takes his turn, notwithstanding that there is a checkmate. Also,in order to prevail, either pair of partners must take both kings of theopposing pair of partthat his set of pieces is thereafter combined withthat of his partner, so as to make one set only. The three remainingplayers then continue to play in turn, although the combined sets of theone partnership are treated as a single set so that any piece of thecombined sets may be moved at each turn of the remaining partnenComparethis with individual play, and the option recited above with respect toit.

Queens, bishops, or castles may be used as additional royalty pieces, inlieu of knights. Also, the additional pieces need not be the same. Forexample, each player may have an additional queen and an additionalknight, or some other such combination. in fact, players may be given achoice of additional pieces, with a restriction against adding more thanone queen, or against adding any queens at all. Knights are preferredbecause of their ability to leap over other pieces.

I claim:

1. A chess game for two, three or four players comprising a relativelyenlarged checkerboard having a basic playing area consisting of 64playing squares arranged in 8 bilaterally, alternately colored,successively adjoining rows having 8 playing squares per row, and anadditional peripheral playing area around the basic playing area,consisting of three additional rows adjoining each side of the basicplaying area, the innermost and intermediate of which additional rowsconsist of 8 playing squares apiece'and are coextensive with therespective sides of the basic playing area, and the outermost of whichadditional rows consist of two playing squares apiece and arecoextensive with the middlemost squares of the intermediate rows, and arelatively enlarged set of conventional chess pieces initially disposedon the additional peripheral playing area of the checkerboard for eachplayer, consisting of the usual 8 ners. This is tosay, when one pair ofpartners takes one visually distinguishable royalty pieces initiallydisposed.

on the squares of the intermediate additional row on one side of thebasic playing area, 8 visually identical pawns initially disposed on thesquares of the innermost additional row on said one side of the basicplaying area, and two additional said royalty pieces initially disposedon the squares of the outermost additional row on saidone side of thebasic playing area, and selected from the group consisting of queens,knights, bishops and castles, saidroyalty pieces on the aforesaidintermediate additional row being arranged in conventional order end toend of the row, with the king and queen being disposed on the aforesaidmiddlemost squares of the row, and all of said royalty pieces and saidpawns being permitted to move on the checkerboardin conventionalfashion. 1

2. The chess game according to claim 1 wherein the two additionalroyalty pieces are similar.

3. The chess game according to claim 1 wherein the two additionalroyalty pieces are knights.

1. A chess game for two, three or four players comprising a relativelyenlarged checkerboard having a basic playing area consisting of 64playing squares arranged in 8 bilateRally, alternately colored,successively adjoining rows having 8 playing squares per row, and anadditional peripheral playing area around the basic playing area,consisting of three additional rows adjoining each side of the basicplaying area, the innermost and intermediate of which additional rowsconsist of 8 playing squares apiece and are coextensive with therespective sides of the basic playing area, and the outermost of whichadditional rows consist of two playing squares apiece and arecoextensive with the middlemost squares of the intermediate rows, and arelatively enlarged set of conventional chess pieces initially disposedon the additional peripheral playing area of the checkerboard for eachplayer, consisting of the usual 8 visually distinguishable royaltypieces initially disposed on the squares of the intermediate additionalrow on one side of the basic playing area, 8 visually identical pawnsinitially disposed on the squares of the innermost additional row onsaid one side of the basic playing area, and two additional said royaltypieces initially disposed on the squares of the outermost additional rowon said one side of the basic playing area, and selected from the groupconsisting of queens, knights, bishops and castles, said royalty pieceson the aforesaid intermediate additional row being arranged inconventional order end to end of the row, with the king and queen beingdisposed on the aforesaid middlemost squares of the row, and all of saidroyalty pieces and said pawns being permitted to move on thecheckerboard in conventional fashion.
 2. The chess game according toclaim 1 wherein the two additional royalty pieces are similar.
 3. Thechess game according to claim 1 wherein the two additional royaltypieces are knights.